When the path diverges. October 4, 2020. The Rev. David M. Stoddart

Philippians 3:4b-14

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there 

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. When I first read Robert Frost, I fell in love. I stopped worrying about rhyme schemes and meters and just let the poetry move me. Rather than analyzing it like a compulsive student trying to make an A in English class, I just soaked in its simple beauty and relished it.

I’ve been thinking about this particular poem a lot as I have sat with Paul’s message to the Philippians today. He also reached a critical moment when the path before him diverged. He could continue to be a devout Pharisees and to obey the commandments and follow all the rules and observe all the traditions of his people in order to serve God — or he could fall in love. And Paul fell deeply in love with Christ. He allowed himself to be swept away by the love and beauty of God which Jesus reveals, a holy magnificence that no law or tradition could ever adequately convey. And rather than try to keep earning God’s favor, Paul chose to embrace Christ and let that favor just wash over him and open up his heart and change his entire mindset. He took the road less traveled by and it made all the difference.

When Jesus calls us to follow him, he invites us to fall in love. Because without being filled with love, what he teaches makes no sense: Turn the other cheek? Forgive everyone who hurts you? Do good to your enemies? Share what you have generously? Don't worry about anything? Be willing to die? If we stick to the commandment road, that all sounds like nonsense. It’s only by walking the path of love that we can actually follow Jesus and live like Jesus, with his Spirit. It’s not that the Law is bad: of course it’s good. But it can only take us so far. The Ten Commandments can help keep our behavior in line, but no one ever fell in love with a commandment. By contrast, Jesus can blow our minds, pierce our hearts, and open our eyes to see a Love awesome beyond words. He can take us to a place that no law or commandment could ever get us to.

I cannot make you fall in love with Christ. But I can assure you that’s exactly what he is calling you to do. He is inviting each one of us to be loved into goodness, to be loved into abundance, to be loved into full and eternal life. And truly, there is no other way. God is love, and we can only know God by loving and being loved. If we think that the Christian religion is about following lots of rules, enacting lots of rituals, and signing off on lots of doctrines so that God doesn’t get angry at us and punish us by sending us to some kind of hell forever, then we have taken the wrong path and have completely missed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, we can always get back on the life-giving path. So I’m going to urge a simple practice on you. Jesus tells us to abide in his love. So, every single day, multiple times throughout the day, take a moment and close your eyes and imagine Jesus saying to you: “I love you. I love you just the way you are. You are precious to me, and I will love you forever.” Hear those words spoken to you every single day, and then over time let the Holy Spirit do whatever she is going to do. The goal is not to have gushy feelings about Jesus, though there’s nothing wrong with those if they come. The goal is to be filled with the love of Christ so that we love God and love other people more and more like Jesus loves us. That is the path. That is the way. In our world, sadly, it is the road less traveled by. But at least for the people of Church of Our Saviour, I don’t want it to be the road not taken.